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I'm hoping to gather some input from anyone who has done their own research or better yet owns a time trial frame (or two) from one of the open mold vendors. I'm just getting into time trials, riding a borrowed Litespeed Tachyon and looking to build something to hopefully use next season that's a bit more modern. I own a Hongfu frame so I initially inquired with them about their two time trial frame options but I don't want to settle for one of them for the sake of convenience of dealing with a known entity (to me) if there are better options available.

As far as 'better' or 'best', I'm mainly concerned with a frame, fork, seatpost, and handlebars that simply works as it should. I don't want to be dealing with slipping clamps or awkward designs that make it difficult to get a proper fit or cable routing (looking to use Di2 or EPS) that makes no sense. These things are impossible to assess from pictures. Of course, weight needs to be kept in check and a vendor that can supply a full disc rear would be a plus.

For reference, Hongfu quoted me $799 for their FM018 (http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/html_Produc ... FM018.html), a frame which aesthetically does nothing for me. Handlebars would be an additional $175 and they offered me a full disc rear bundled in with some rims and the frameset for an additional $341.

A guy was in top3-top6 consistently in local season long TT series on this bike, so it must not be too slow

I gues that you are talking about me In my opinion this is one of the best open mold frames you can get in price/performance. Quality is quite close to big brand TT bikes i've riden in the past (Giant; Scott)You can see my build here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=143876

A guy was in top3-top6 consistently in local season long TT series on this bike, so it must not be too slow

calvin wrote:I gues that you are talking about me In my opinion this is one of the best open mold frames you can get in price/performance. Quality is quite close to big brand TT bikes i've riden in the past (Giant; Scott)You can see my build here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=143876

I would also second Yoeleo's quality. I don't own any of their frames, but I own several (3 currently, 1 previously) sets of their wheels and they've all exceeded my expectations.

I've been using their 88 mm wheels on my Venge to TT in the road bike class of my local TT Cup for the last 2 seasons and I just built a Shiv TT for next season and i'll be using the 88's on that as well, with a disc from them in the back. I have the 60's, which are normally on my Venge for road riding, on the Shiv for some training rides.

A guy was in top3-top6 consistently in local season long TT series on this bike, so it must not be too slow

I gues that you are talking about me In my opinion this is one of the best open mold frames you can get in price/performance. Quality is quite close to big brand TT bikes i've riden in the past (Giant; Scott)You can see my build here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=143876

Hey Calvin! Congrats on the success with your bike and thanks for chiming in with your experience.

Did you consider any other frames in addition to the Yoeleo? Did they mention if they'd be willing to make a frame with no logos when you ordered yours? How was cabling the brakes and derailleurs and setting up the hidden front brake? Any regrets on the frame choice?

stormur wrote:I don't get something... why pay more for open mold frame than for the one from reputable brand ?

What name brand frame would you suggest at a similar price point? Based on what I've seen, full carbon framesets plus base bars with all hidden cabling and such cannot be had for under $2000 from a name brand. I'm not willing to downgrade on specs just to have a name on my frame (and I prefer no logos anyway).